FISCAL NOTE



FUND(S):

HB2470 AMENDMENT

Sources of Revenue:

Other Fund N/A

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund



Fiscal Note Summary


Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.


The purpose of this bill is to provide a sign support specialist or an educational sign language interpreter in the education of exceptional children. This bill also deals with the classification, compensation and duties of school service personnel. The bill specifies employment duties for certain positions, modifies certain classification titles, establishes certain classification titles, and sets wages for certain service personnel. Also established in this bill are conditions for the employer payment of and continuing education accrual for certain certification acquisitions.



Fiscal Note Detail


Effect of Proposal Fiscal Year
2013
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
2014
Increase/Decrease
(use"-")
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost 0 20,489 20,489
Personal Services 0 0 0
Current Expenses 0 9,289 9,289
Repairs and Alterations 0 0 0
Assets 0 0 0
Other 0 11,200 11,200
2. Estimated Total Revenues 0 0 0


Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):


The proposed legislation creates Educational Sign Language Interpreter I and II classifications, as well as a classification for Sign Support Specialists that is separate from the Braille Specialist. There is no cost associated with the creation of the Educational Sign Language Interpreter I and Sign Support Specialist classifications because there are no changes in the pay grades for existing employees who move to those classifications. There would be a pay grade increase for service personnel who move to the Educational Sign Language Interpreter II classification. The estimated cost to the State under the Public School Support Program for the Educational Sign Language Interpreter II classification is $9,289. Estimated additional costs to the County Boards of Education include the cost for certification tests for sign language interpreters and sign support specialists. These costs were calculated by multiplying the number of estimated employees certified annually by the cost of the certification tests. The total estimated cost to County Boards of Education for these certifications is $11,200. The proposed legislation also includes a provision that for any service personnel required to hold a certification as a condition of employment, any time devoted to acquiring or maintaining the certification, including instructional time, training and testing, constitutes hours of continuing education for purposes of meeting the annual continuing education requirements in state board policy. This provision may result in additional costs to the County Boards of Education, but there is insufficient data to calculate any such cost. Please note that on page 27, the titles for Educational Interpreter I and II are missing the words "Sign Language" and are inconsistent with the titles used throughout the remainder of the proposed legislation.



Memorandum






    Person submitting Fiscal Note: Brenda Freed
    Email Address: bfreed@access.k12.wv.us